Filmaka founders and independent film producers Deepak Nayar and Thomas Augsberger will be busy on the Riviera the next two weeks. Deepak will be generating interest for his latest movies, Filmaka’s SWINGING WITH THE FINKELS and FOSTER, both directed by Filmaka member Jonathan Newman while Thomas will be working on distribution deals for one of his clients, Munich based Tele Muenchen Group, which is owned by Filmaka jury member Dr. Herbert Kloiber.

Also heading to Cannes are Filmaka award winners Brett Wagner, Rudolf Buitendach, Luca Immesi and Giulia Brazzale. We’ll have more details about their trip in the coming days as well as Cannes-related announcements about some of our other members.

If you are attending Cannes or have films screening or in competition, shoot us an e-mail at info@filmaka.com – We’d like to share your news with the Filmaka community.

Did our last Reed Martin interview have you begging for more? The wait is over!! We have another amazing interview from Reed Martin. This time he tackles the questions of working your way up the industry ladder, the difference between television and film, and ‘making it’ in Hollywood.

Ready for more advice from author Reed Martin (“The Reel Truth”)? This time, he answers several more of your questions - Should you go to film school? Do screenwriters need agent? How important is networking?

Reed’s “The Reel Truth: Everything You Didn’t Know You Need to Know About Independent Film” is a great resource for independent filmmakers (as well as an entertaining read) and can be purchased wherever books are sold, including Amazon where it is on sale. Keep on checking the Filmaka blog as Reed will be answering more of your questions.

“Pitching” is the subject of part two of our interview with author Reed Martin (“The Reel Truth”). His advice for how to improve your pitching skills to land financing for indie films includes watching Robert Altman’s “The Player.”

Reed’s “The Reel Truth: Everything You Didn’t Know You Need to Know About Independent Film” is a great resource for independent filmmakers (as well as an entertaining read) and can be purchased wherever books are sold, including Amazon where it is on sale. Keep on checking the Filmaka blog as Reed will be answering more of your questions.

Author Reed Martin recently stopped by the Filmaka office in Los Angeles to answer questions Filmaka members submitted about independent filmmaking, everything from creative and castng to financing and marketing. Those are among the topics of Reed’s new book “The Reel Truth: Everything You Didn’t Know About Making an Independent Film.” Reed, who is also a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, spent several years interviewing such filmmakers as Darren Aronofsky, Danny Boyle, Jim Sheridan, Lee Daniels, and Filmaka’s own Werner Herzog about the lessons they learned while making their indie films. Here’s the first in a series of videos in which Reed answers questions submitted by Filmaka members.

“The Reel Truth” is a great resource for independent filmmakers (as well as an entertaining read) and can be purchased wherever books are sold, including Amazon where it is on sale. Keep on checking the Filmaka blog as Reed will be answering more of your questions.

Filmaka Jury member, Bill Pullman, is about to open on Broadway in OLEANNA. This David Mamet play also stars Julia Stiles. Here’s a interview with Bill and Julia talking about Broadway, David Mamet and acting…..

Leading digital agency Digitas invited Filmaka Founder Deepak Nayar to participate on a panel at the prestigious Cannes Lions June 26. Also on the panel were Lucas Cruikshank, also known as YouTube’s Fred , actress and digital content producer Justine Bateman, and Webby and Streamy Award winning blogger Zadi Diaz. Digitas’ Chief Creative Officer Mark Beeching hosted the session, entitled “The Film Preditors II: A Dating Game” in which panelists “competed” for the attention of Subway’s Jeff Larson. From all accounts, Deepak did a fantastic job and his kids were thrilled to get this this photo of their dad with the one and only Fred. Thanks to Digitas for the invitation.

Welcome to Filmaka!

Filmaka, the vision of independent film producer Deepak Nayar (Bend It Like Beckham, Buena Vista Social Club)and Thomas Augsberger (Mr. Brooks, Waiting) is a global creative community and video entertainment studio. The community is powered by a series of competitions which reward filmmakers with production budgets, cash prizes, diverse employment opportunities and potential management and talent agency representation. Stay updated by subscribing to the RSS feed.